“Things are better,” said Randall Shepard, former chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. “Indiana on most measures is a little higher than average” among all states.

Shepard and Zoeller led a classroom discussion of the Civic Health Index, which found that Indiana residents like to talk about politics – 18th-highest rate nationally – but don't follow through in voting booths. The state ranked 41st nationally in election turnout last year after finishing last in 2014.